Hodge, the comeback kid

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Brad Hodge has learnt much about the variables of Test cricket
on his first tour with the Australian team, but he might not have
expected this.

Called up from holidays to take the injured Ricky Ponting's
place in the squad, Hodge believed his India tour had ended on
Tuesday as the third Test began in Nagpur. With the recovering
Ponting back with the squad and only one Test side left to be
picked on the tour, Hodge and another reserve, Shane Watson, were
sent home to prepare for the Australian summer.

They had made it only as far as Mumbai, with an hour until their
connection to Australia, when Hodge received a phone call. Darren
Lehmann had been injured and Hodge would have to do a prompt
about-face and head back to Nagpur.

With Ponting expected to slot back in for Lehmann in the fourth
Test, it remains unlikely Hodge will see any more action than the
two innings he played in Australia's tour match against Mumbai
before the Test series.

Australian officials wanted the Victorian to stay in India to
cover the possibility of other injuries ahead of the fourth
Test.

Having made his farewells to the squad earlier in the day, Hodge
was back in their midst around midnight. Instead of being on a
plane somewhere over Australia, he found himself standing at mid-on
during the second day of the Test, when Jason Gillespie temporarily
left the field while 12th man Brett Lee was already substituting
for Lehmann.

"It's a pretty strange feeling and the boys had a bit of a laugh
when I walked into breakfast this morning," Hodge said.